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Review: Qasr Al Sarab Resort by Anantara, Abu Dhabi: You May Never Leave
Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort by Anantara, One Bedroom Pool villas from around AED 3700. Other accommodation is available. Pricing and other information are correct as of publishing. Find the latest information on Qasr Al Sarab Resort by Anantara's Website or call tel. +97128862088. Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort by Anantara, Al Mirayr, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Written by Liam Collens // Find other reviews here. Liam was an invited guest of Qasr Al Sarab Resort by Anantara.
Qasr Al Sarab Resort by Anantara romances you with breathtaking sunsets and ochre dunes. Get a villa, they are worth the journey (and the price).
The Highs
The Lows
The Highs
The Lows
Review: Qasr Al Sarab Resort by Anantara, Abu Dhabi
Passing date farms, villages and the Tropic of Cancer (yes, that happened), the 3-plus hour drive from Dubai to Qasr Al Sarab Resort is rich with anticipation. I longed to stay at Qasr Al Sarab, so much so, I filed in under “bucket list future stay”. An experience to be savoured when my time in the UAE comes to a close (whenever that may be).
Qasr Al Sarab Resort reveals a Bedouin-style fortress rising from fields of soaring ochre dunes. Sandscrapers, if you will, where whisps of sand peel across the Rub’ al Khali desert, known to most as the Empty Quarter. A splendid isolation. A place to be bothered only by your thoughts and pressing decisions, such as shall I swim or book a Balinese massage today (from 680 dhs)?
Qasr Al Sarab Resort by Anantara is lush with palms and water features, almost enough to make you forget you’re in one of the world’s largest stretches of desert.
Qasr Al Sarab Resort reveals a Bedouin-style fortress rising from fields of soaring ochre dunes. Sandscrapers, if you will, where whisps of sand peel across the Rub’ al Khali desert, known to most as the Empty Quarter. A splendid isolation. A place to be bothered only by your thoughts and pressing decisions, such as shall I swim or book a Balinese massage today (from 680 dhs)?
Qasr Al Sarab Resort by Anantara is lush with palms and water features, almost enough to make you forget you’re in one of the world’s largest stretches of desert.
Qasr Al Sarab Resort’s overall proposal
Qasr Al Sarab features 140 rooms, 14 suites and 53 pool villas (and you want the pool villa habibi, trust me). This 19,000-acre resort provided refuge to both Tom Cruise and the cast of Dune during filming. Mercifully, golf buggies chaperone you around Qasr Al Sarab Resort after an easy check-in with chilled welcomed drinks and dates, as is the Bedouin tradition. I enjoyed walking around the property clocking up 13,000 steps a day.
Visually, Qasr Al Sarab dazzles with oversized plants, decorative tiling and flowing corridors framed with archways. The gentle trickle of fountains meets the rustle of palm leaves swaying in the desert breeze. Walking through the hotel’s soaring lobby, one catches glimpses of the outside world: austere, barren, but beautiful. From the main resort to the bedrooms, it is a large resort lacking those boutique charms that some prefer. Still, Qasr Al Sarab’s grandiosity casts a long shadow pulling off ‘more is more’ with aplomb. This sentiment carries across the entire stay. No huge misses or failures. Somewhere into day two, I am already working out when to come back.
Qasr Al Sarab Resort by Anantara features hotel rooms, suites and villas. This is a photo of the walk through the villa area.
Visually, Qasr Al Sarab dazzles with oversized plants, decorative tiling and flowing corridors framed with archways. The gentle trickle of fountains meets the rustle of palm leaves swaying in the desert breeze. Walking through the hotel’s soaring lobby, one catches glimpses of the outside world: austere, barren, but beautiful. From the main resort to the bedrooms, it is a large resort lacking those boutique charms that some prefer. Still, Qasr Al Sarab’s grandiosity casts a long shadow pulling off ‘more is more’ with aplomb. This sentiment carries across the entire stay. No huge misses or failures. Somewhere into day two, I am already working out when to come back.
Qasr Al Sarab Resort by Anantara features hotel rooms, suites and villas. This is a photo of the walk through the villa area.
Qasr Al Sarab, Would I Go Back? Without question.
Qasr Al Sarab Resort’s One-Bedroom Pool Villa
Bedroom. The one-bedroom pool villa is enormous. A generous 130 sqm featuring a living room, coffee tea kitchenette, large wardrobes, a king-sized bed and more. It is bigger than many city apartments offering more than enough space for a weekend or longer stay. Reliable wifi is also available together with a small desk for anyone who, like me, needs to do work calls or personal matters on staycations. The sturdy king-sized bed absorbs journey weariness together with a sofa in a living room perfect for reading or grazing on the fruit bowl. The room affords views overlooking the private, outside terrace.
Bathroom. The palatial bathroom with his/her sinks (actually, how do we pronoun these now?), a walk-in shower room with an oversized rain shower and an enormous bathtub that could double as a second pool. The Elemis toiletries somewhat crack the fantasy but, apparently, there are soap and pillow menus?
Terrace and pool. The outside terrace features a heated plunge pool that easily accommodates 6 people, which is plenty for a room intended for two adults and two children. The shaded outside day bed offers respite with the sound of chirping birds and, occasionally, children in adjacent villas having the time of their lives.
At this price point, you could also stay at Telal Resort Al Ain, another secluded desert stay, or the Oberoi Al Zorah, a beach resort on the Ajman coast. Qasr al Sarab Resort blends the best of those two offerings into an elevated desert stay.
Top: Qasr Al Sarab Resort by Anantara one-bedroom pool villas offer spacious respite away from it all; Left: Inside Qasr al Sarab Resort’s Al Liwan foyer area; inside Qasr al Sarab Resort’s Al Waha all-day dining restaurant.
Bathroom. The palatial bathroom with his/her sinks (actually, how do we pronoun these now?), a walk-in shower room with an oversized rain shower and an enormous bathtub that could double as a second pool. The Elemis toiletries somewhat crack the fantasy but, apparently, there are soap and pillow menus?
Terrace and pool. The outside terrace features a heated plunge pool that easily accommodates 6 people, which is plenty for a room intended for two adults and two children. The shaded outside day bed offers respite with the sound of chirping birds and, occasionally, children in adjacent villas having the time of their lives.
At this price point, you could also stay at Telal Resort Al Ain, another secluded desert stay, or the Oberoi Al Zorah, a beach resort on the Ajman coast. Qasr al Sarab Resort blends the best of those two offerings into an elevated desert stay.
Top: Qasr Al Sarab Resort by Anantara one-bedroom pool villas offer spacious respite away from it all; Left: Inside Qasr al Sarab Resort’s Al Liwan foyer area; inside Qasr al Sarab Resort’s Al Waha all-day dining restaurant.
Qasr Al Sarab Resort’s Food and Beverage
Qasr Al Sarab’s food and beverage offerings range from rooftop grills (Suhail), a Mediterranean restaurant (Ghadeer), an all-day buffet diner, where you will also have breakfast (Al Waha) plus more noteworthy features like a gelato shop and desert barbecues available. Overall the offering is high on par with the best of its peers (such as the Ritz Carlton Ras Al Khaimah Al Wadi), but there is room to grow in the details. A new executive chef, Rick Gonzalez, looks to shake things up impressing us with a French toast with lemon-scented labneh and date compote and a Mediterranean-leaning shakshouka pelted with feta and kalamata olives. More of this please, Rick, oh, and keep the dim sum and broth noodles at breakfast.
Top: Al Ghadeer Mediterranean restaurant offers dishes such as this French-inspired Salade Niçois; Bottom: Chef Rick Gonzalez served up these off-menu items including a lemon-labneh and date French toast.
In the meantime, two culinary highlights stand out. A 3 fils x Brix collaboration inside the atmospheric Royal Pavilion sets a 12-course journey around the world (ongoing until March 2023, 900 dhs per person). The menu pops with standout dishes: a salmon carpaccio, mushroom soup, judiciously-cooked Chilean sea bass and soft shell crab. Some readers will remember I shrugged off a mediocre lunch 3 fils some years ago. Yet, the affable Chef Carmen Rueda Hernandez breathes new life, impressing and quelling my apprehensions about 3 fils recent awards. A return to 3 fils lingers in my future.
3 fils x Brix is collaborating with Qasr Al Sarab Resort to host dinner in the Royal Pavilion including these standout dishes of soft-shell crab, mushroom soup, salmon carpaccio in ponzu and superbly-cooked seabass.
Al Falaj’s collaboration with Omani-British chef Dina Macki nestles you on Bedouin rugs amidst Rub’ al Khali’s shadows and towering dunes. A buffet is available, but we opt for an a la carte menu of Dina’s inspirations drawn from her Zanzibari-Omani heritage. Standout dishes include a beautifully-seared sea bass swimming in a fragrant broth, tinted the palest pistachio, and festooned with deliciously-sticky caramelised onions. It comes after a series of starters including hummus with roasted apricots and a whipped labneh and roasted carrots dish that took me back to a recent dinner at Jun’s, Dubai.
Top tip. Sit on Al Liwan’s outside terrace with Robert Mondavi Pinot Noir as the sunset melts then fades into the desert dunes.
Dine Macki of Dine with Dina led a delicious dinner including a fragrant seabass with caramelised onions, labneh with roasted carrots among this selection of starters including a hummus with roasted apricots.
Qasr Al Sarab is certainly family-friendly but finds the balance. As someone without children, few things make my toes curl like the crowing of other people’s kids. A private, one-bedroom villa certainly helps coupled with the resort’s sheer vast expanse. I am rarely troubled.
Qasr Al Sarab Resort by Anantara’s Al Liwan terrace offers splendid sunset views.
Gym. Qasr Al Sarab boasts an impressive gym with more equipment than anyone could possibly need for a weekend (or a week).
Wellness and spa. I joined a Singing Bowl Meditation session early one morning by Dr Buathon Thienarrom that lulled me back to near sleep (in a good way). The spa features treatments from facials and more where Mrs EatGoSee enjoyed an Anantara signature massage (990 dhs for 90 minutes). Qasr Al Sarab’s spa offers a lot more from Moroccan hammams (from 850 dhs) to steam rooms, an ice room and IV therapy, of all things.
Outdoor activities. As you’d expect Qasr Al Sarab provides plenty of outdoor activities perfect for out-of-towners seeking to delve into a rare opportunity outside of the region. Highlights included the camel desert walk (300 dhs, worth it!), a falcon and saluki show (the dogs are adorable, 400 dhs) and a desert animal tour in their soon-to-be-finished animal sanctuary with oryx and other Arabian fauna (190 dhs). Dune drives (400 dhs), sand boarding and padel courts (both free) and more lie ahead for visitors.
Qasr Al Sarab Resort’s gym is spacious and very well-equipped; the camel walk excursion is a relaxing ride through the desert with these impressive animals – an insight into what it was like to traverse these desert dunes.
Without question. UAE residents familiar with desert staycations will enjoy the modern facilities with sympathetic nods to Bedouin design. It’s a big hotel with big hotel facilities, but the refuge of the villas offers that quiet sanctuary preferred by people like me who did not drive 3-plus hours into the desert to hang out with others. A small point that impressed me was the availability of water bottles with plant-based plastic that claims to decompose within 80 days. Is it a sustainable hotel? I cannot comment on that, but I wish more hotels made these visible efforts to reduce single-use plastic.
While Qasr Al Sarab is licensed, the mocktail and non-alcoholic options also stand out including these drinks from 3 fils x Brix and Dina Macki.
Out-of-towners looking for a complete (and licensed) desert staycation amid the desert’s best dunes. UAE residents looking for that luxurious desert stay worlds apart from the city’s bustle. People familiar with the Ritz Carlton Ras Al Khaimah Al Wadi hotel looking for an alternative.
Top: Al Ghadeer Mediterranean restaurant offers dishes such as this French-inspired Salade Niçois; Bottom: Chef Rick Gonzalez served up these off-menu items including a lemon-labneh and date French toast.
In the meantime, two culinary highlights stand out. A 3 fils x Brix collaboration inside the atmospheric Royal Pavilion sets a 12-course journey around the world (ongoing until March 2023, 900 dhs per person). The menu pops with standout dishes: a salmon carpaccio, mushroom soup, judiciously-cooked Chilean sea bass and soft shell crab. Some readers will remember I shrugged off a mediocre lunch 3 fils some years ago. Yet, the affable Chef Carmen Rueda Hernandez breathes new life, impressing and quelling my apprehensions about 3 fils recent awards. A return to 3 fils lingers in my future.
3 fils x Brix is collaborating with Qasr Al Sarab Resort to host dinner in the Royal Pavilion including these standout dishes of soft-shell crab, mushroom soup, salmon carpaccio in ponzu and superbly-cooked seabass.
Al Falaj’s collaboration with Omani-British chef Dina Macki nestles you on Bedouin rugs amidst Rub’ al Khali’s shadows and towering dunes. A buffet is available, but we opt for an a la carte menu of Dina’s inspirations drawn from her Zanzibari-Omani heritage. Standout dishes include a beautifully-seared sea bass swimming in a fragrant broth, tinted the palest pistachio, and festooned with deliciously-sticky caramelised onions. It comes after a series of starters including hummus with roasted apricots and a whipped labneh and roasted carrots dish that took me back to a recent dinner at Jun’s, Dubai.
Top tip. Sit on Al Liwan’s outside terrace with Robert Mondavi Pinot Noir as the sunset melts then fades into the desert dunes.
Dine Macki of Dine with Dina led a delicious dinner including a fragrant seabass with caramelised onions, labneh with roasted carrots among this selection of starters including a hummus with roasted apricots.
Qasr Al Sarab Resort’s, Family-Friendly?
Qasr Al Sarab is certainly family-friendly but finds the balance. As someone without children, few things make my toes curl like the crowing of other people’s kids. A private, one-bedroom villa certainly helps coupled with the resort’s sheer vast expanse. I am rarely troubled.
Qasr Al Sarab Resort by Anantara’s Al Liwan terrace offers splendid sunset views.
Qasr Al Sarab Resort’s Facilities and Excursions
Gym. Qasr Al Sarab boasts an impressive gym with more equipment than anyone could possibly need for a weekend (or a week).
Wellness and spa. I joined a Singing Bowl Meditation session early one morning by Dr Buathon Thienarrom that lulled me back to near sleep (in a good way). The spa features treatments from facials and more where Mrs EatGoSee enjoyed an Anantara signature massage (990 dhs for 90 minutes). Qasr Al Sarab’s spa offers a lot more from Moroccan hammams (from 850 dhs) to steam rooms, an ice room and IV therapy, of all things.
Outdoor activities. As you’d expect Qasr Al Sarab provides plenty of outdoor activities perfect for out-of-towners seeking to delve into a rare opportunity outside of the region. Highlights included the camel desert walk (300 dhs, worth it!), a falcon and saluki show (the dogs are adorable, 400 dhs) and a desert animal tour in their soon-to-be-finished animal sanctuary with oryx and other Arabian fauna (190 dhs). Dune drives (400 dhs), sand boarding and padel courts (both free) and more lie ahead for visitors.
Qasr Al Sarab Resort’s gym is spacious and very well-equipped; the camel walk excursion is a relaxing ride through the desert with these impressive animals – an insight into what it was like to traverse these desert dunes.
Qasr Al Sarab, Would I Go Back?
Without question. UAE residents familiar with desert staycations will enjoy the modern facilities with sympathetic nods to Bedouin design. It’s a big hotel with big hotel facilities, but the refuge of the villas offers that quiet sanctuary preferred by people like me who did not drive 3-plus hours into the desert to hang out with others. A small point that impressed me was the availability of water bottles with plant-based plastic that claims to decompose within 80 days. Is it a sustainable hotel? I cannot comment on that, but I wish more hotels made these visible efforts to reduce single-use plastic.
While Qasr Al Sarab is licensed, the mocktail and non-alcoholic options also stand out including these drinks from 3 fils x Brix and Dina Macki.
Qasr al Sarab, Who Should Go?
Out-of-towners looking for a complete (and licensed) desert staycation amid the desert’s best dunes. UAE residents looking for that luxurious desert stay worlds apart from the city’s bustle. People familiar with the Ritz Carlton Ras Al Khaimah Al Wadi hotel looking for an alternative.
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